Washington: The US economy has been in recession since December 2007, a panel of economists charged with the official designation of business cycles said today.
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The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research said it made the determination during a conference call on Friday.
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Although a recession is generally defined as two consecutive quarters of declining activity, the panel has its own criteria for determining a downturn.
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"A recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in production, employment, real income and other indicators," the panel said.
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"A recession begins when the economy reaches a peak of activity and ends when the economy reaches its trough. Between trough and peak, the economy is in an expansion."
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The committee said it "identified December 2007 as the peak month, after determining that the subsequent decline in economic activity was large enough to qualify as a recession."
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"The peak marks the end of the expansion that began in November 2001 and the beginning of a recession. The expansion lasted 73 months; the previous expansion of the 1990s lasted 120 months," NBER said.
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According to government data, the US economy contracted at a 0.2 per cent pace in the fourth quarter of 2007 but grew 0.8 percent in the first quarter and 2.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2008. It then contracted 0.5 per cent in the third quarter, based on a provisional estimate.
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But the gross domestic product (GDP) data may have been skewed by tax rebates that stimulated consumer spending, according to analysts.
